Mystery Writer To Discuss Her Work At BPW Meeting

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith will discuss the art of writing and getting published at the Monday, March 6 meeting of the Newtown Business and Professional Women’s Club. The meeting at the Inn at Newtown begins at 6 pm with networking.

The author of six books, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith started writing when she learned to read.

“I submitted stories, essays, greeting card copy, cartoon text, op eds, plays, novels until 1984 when Doubleday called to tell me that they were going to publish The Book of Phoebe, a novel I’d sent to them in a brown envelope,” she said.  “I wrote the book in the Ridgefield Public Library. Although I now have an office and a computer, I still write my first two drafts in longhand.”

After Phoebe, other books quickly followed: Lament for a Silver-Eyed Woman (Morrow, 1987); The Port of Missing Men (Morrow, 1989); From the Center of the Earth: Stories out of the Peace Corps (Clover Park, 1990); Going Upcountry: Travel Essays from Peace Corps Writers (Scribner, 1993); Masters of Illusion: A Novel of the Connecticut Circus Fire (Warner, 1994), and her latest, An American Killing, published by Henry Holt in hardcover in 1998 and by Ballentine Books in paperback in December 1999.

 A resident of Ridgefield, Ms Tirone Smith teaches writing and is a mentor in the Young Writers Institute which encourages 15-year-olds from schools in Hartford and the surrounding suburbs to write. The young writers are paired with published writers who will review their work.

Born in Hartford, Ms Tirone Smith graduated from college in 1965, then joined the Peace Corps, serving two years in Buea, West Cameroon, where she organized a public library. Once she returned to the United States, she became a teacher, got married, had children, and continued to write.

“Whenever possible, I travel to the Caribbean and Europe, and take research trips with a buddy from Tucson,” she said. “Most recently I went to Texas, where I am setting the sequel to An American Killing.”

“My parents were from huge immigrant families,” she said. “I was always surrounded by cousins. From the time I was very young, my father would take me with him to downtown Hartford, park me in the bookstore and go off and chat with friends and strangers and the local bookie knowing I’d be safe with books.”

An American Killing is about the mysterious death of a congressman in President Bill Clinton’s inner circle. Combining political savvy, sharp wit, and edgy suspense, the book is a smart-mouthed, fast-paced tale of marriage, murder, and perfidy in the nation’s power centers.

As part of her presentation, Ms Tirone Smith will discuss how writing a book is much like running a business, requiring such operations as marketing and publicity.

The menu choices for the March 6 meeting are corned beef and cabbage, vegetarian lasagna, or stuffed sole. Coffee, tea and dessert are included. Reservations, $18, should be made by calling Ann LoBosco at 426-0472 by Friday, March 3.